A review by inamerata
The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2019 by John Joseph Adams, Carmen Maria Machado

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

An eclectic collection of short stories exploring a variety of settings, themes, and formats. Most pieces are vaguely contemporary and lean toward speculative fiction. Even when dealing with darker topics, the collection avoid wallowing, which it makes for an engaging read. The length is just right -- either cutting right to the good stuff, or else I'm not spending too much time dragging through something that wasn't for me. I found some great new authors and each story includes brief commentary, as well, which is always a plus.

My favorites were When Robot and Crow Saved East St. Louis, On the Day You Spend Forever With Your Dog, The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington, Poor Unfortunate Fools, Variations on a Theme from Turandot, and Pitcher Plant.